Nets-Thunder Preview

By TOM CASTROPosted Jan 01 2013 3:14PM

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to roll behind the NBA's highest-scoring offense and a home-court advantage that has them on a 12-game winning streak at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

That may spell more trouble for the Brooklyn Nets, who have lost four in a row on the road, seven straight in the series and are coming off a blowout at the hands of another Western Conference powerhouse.

The Thunder go for a season sweep of the Nets on Wednesday night after Brooklyn suffered its first loss under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo in ugly fashion.

Oklahoma City (24-6) won its third straight since its only back-to-back losses this season, 114-96 over Phoenix on Monday. Russell Westbrook overcame a nasty cut over his right eye to finish with 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, while Kevin Durant scored 30 to help extend the longest current home win streak in the league.

The Thunder have averaged 110.9 points and outscored opponents by 13.6 over that stretch.

"I thought that was a good team win," coach Scott Brooks told the team's official website after his club had 23 assists and a season-low five turnovers. "A lot of guys did a lot of good things offensively. We were able to score the ball and take care of the basketball."

Oklahoma City has topped 20 assists in three straight contests, pushing its scoring average to 105.9 by averaging 116.3 during that win streak.

"It was just energy," said Durant, who's scored at least 30 points in nine of his past 12 contests. "We just upped our energy level. We were moving the basketball so well. Everybody was touching it. We got good shots."

That certainly was the case in the teams' first meeting of the season Dec. 4, when the Thunder shot 60.6 percent from the field and got 32 points from Durant and 25 and nine assists from Westbrook. Oklahoma City, though, had to hang on for a 117-111 victory after nearly blowing a 16-point lead.

Despite the encouraging performance, the Nets dropped their seventh in a row to the Thunder. The Brooklyn franchise has also lost all three games at Oklahoma City since the former Seattle SuperSonics relocated for the 2008-09 season.

The Nets (16-15) earned victories in their first two games since the dismissal of coach Avery Johnson, but they tied their lowest point total of the season in a 104-73 loss at San Antonio on Monday. Brooklyn had 18 turnovers and 14 assists while making 37.8 percent from the field - including an abysmal 2-for-20 effort in the third quarter.

The Nets scored five points in the period - a Spurs franchise record for that quarter.

I'm actually surprised it wasn't worse," Carlesimo said.

Star point guard Deron Williams had a season-best 33 points in the first meeting of the season with Oklahoma City, but he scored a season low-tying eight and had one assist while shooting 3 for 11 on Monday. Williams' 39.9 field-goal percentage and 30.0 percent mark from 3-point range are the lowest of his career, and his 7.5 assists per game are his worst as a full-time starter.

"It was bad all the way around - offensively and defensively," Williams said. "We just couldn't put the ball in the basket. We couldn't get stops. We turned the ball over in the quarter."

Brooklyn's last three road defeats have come by an average of 20.0 points.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Nets drop Thunder 110-93 as Durant ejected

By JEFF LATZKEPosted Jan 02 2013 11:36PM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) P.J. Carlesimo's first big motivational message as the interim coach of the Brooklyn Nets earned him an elusive win in Oklahoma City, and perhaps the kind of jolt his team needs to get out of a monthlong funk.

Joe Johnson scored a season-high 33 points, Deron Williams added 19 points and 13 assists, and the Nets snapped Oklahoma City's 12-game home winning streak by beating the Thunder 110-93 Wednesday night in a game featuring the first ejection of Kevin Durant's career.

Johnson said Carlesimo "jumped on us" after a 31-point thumping at San Antonio two nights earlier, stressing the importance of ball movement on offense and helping each other out on defense.

"To be honest, it helped," Johnson said. "It translated into the game because we were in a spot defensively that we hadn't been in in a while. We was talking, communicating, the ball was moving great, guys were getting wide-open shots and it just kind of played into our hands."

The Nets built a 23-point lead late in the second quarter, then allowed Oklahoma City to tie it at 85 before ripping off a 23-8 run to seize control right back. Durant was ejected near the end of the surge, arguing with Danny Crawford after the referee had already issued a technical foul against Kendrick Perkins.

"I just thought it was a bad call. You get frustrated throughout a game, you show emotion. That's how you can tell you love it," said Durant, who scored 27 points.

The three-time scoring champion had never before been ejected in his six NBA seasons but got tossed after Brooklyn rallied largely from the foul line. The Nets made 11 free throws in a span of just over 5 minutes, pulling away after Oklahoma City had finally fought all the way back.

But Durant said it wasn't a disparity in foul calls or any cumulative complaint about the officiating that sent him to the showers early.

"I think I'm allowed to be frustrated, especially in this league. With the ups and downs, the players are allowed to be frustrated," Durant added. "It is what it is, move on from it."

Brook Lopez added 25 points as Brooklyn ended a seven-game losing streak in the series and got Carlesimo a victory against the team that fired him back in 2008. He'd only had one win in Oklahoma City during his abbreviated tenure in charge of the Thunder, getting fired after a 1-12 start after the team's summer relocation from Seattle.

He started his interim stint with the Nets by notching wins against Charlotte and Cleveland before the 104-73 blowout loss at San Antonio.

"For whatever reason, we didn't have quite the same kind of energy in San Antonio, but we learned from it. ... Tonight was tremendous energy," Carlesimo said.

Johnson gave him credit for the turnaround, but he deflected it to Gerald Wallace, who was back in the starting lineup after sitting out Monday's game with a bruised left knee.

"Gerald Wallace is a monster. You want to talk about something that wasn't in San Antonio? Gerald Wallace, because Gerald Wallace is kind of the heart, the way he plays," Carlesimo said. "So, it's not easy for us to play without Gerald Wallace."

The Nets have been seeking a spark after following a strong November, when Avery Johnson was named the Eastern Conference's coach of the month, by going 3-10 and costing him his job.

"It's huge any time you play a good team, but particularly when you play them on the road," Carlesimo said. "Honestly, this is a big-time win. It's a great, great win."

Russell Westbrook had 26 points and 10 assists for Oklahoma City, which lost for only the third time at home this season.

The Thunder clamped down after trailing by 16 at halftime, rallying to pull within 71-68 when Westbrook finished off a 12-3 burst with a jumper from the left elbow with 3:47 left in the third quarter. Lopez powered his way in for a two-handed slam to stem the tide for Brooklyn, but Oklahoma City kept coming.

Durant and Kevin Martin connected on consecutive 3-pointers to finally even it up at 85 with 7:11 to play, only for Johnson to answer with a runner at the other end to put the Nets right back ahead and start the clinching run.

Brooklyn shot exactly 50 percent, becoming just the second team to hit at least half of its shots against Oklahoma City.

"Offense is not what lost us the game. It's not because we didn't make enough shots or we didn't have enough assists," Durant said. "We just didn't play any defense."

Carlesimo spoke as though he held no grudge against the Thunder, who replaced him - then on an interim basis - with Scott Brooks, who has overseen the team's rise into a championship contender.

Back when Carlesimo was in charge, Durant was starting his second year in the NBA and Westbrook was a rookie who had yet to break into the starting lineup. Now, they're both established All-Stars.

"It's a team I feel closer to than a lot of other teams. Hopefully, we helped KD and Nick (Collison) a little bit and Russell a tiny bit that first year, but I think it's safe to say they've gone on and overcome whatever coaching they got from me," Carlesimo said, drawing laughs.

At the start, it looked like Carlesimo's new squad would run away with it against the Thunder, who started the day with the league's best record.

Johnson and Lopez combined to go 9 for 9 from the field to propel the Nets to a quick 27-11 lead, and the lead grew to as much as 23 twice - including at 55-32 after Johnson drilled a 3-pointer off a touch pass from Wallace.

Notes: Carlesimo's only win with the Thunder - after the SuperSonics had relocated from Seattle - came at home on Nov. 2, 2008, against Minnesota. ... The Thunder's largest previous deficit of the season was 16 in a loss at home against Memphis. ... Oklahoma City got a delay of game warning for failing to get onto the court in time for tip-off, as part of the NBA's emphasis on allowing teams 90 seconds between the end of introductions and the tip-off. ... Nets reserve Jerry Stackhouse sat out with a sore right hamstring.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Nets 110, Thunder 93

THE FACTS: The Brooklyn Nets jumped on the Oklahoma City Thunder early, sprinting out to a 23-point lead, then holding off a furious Thunder rally to win going away 110-93.

The Nets (17-15) rode big nights from Joe Johnson (33 points) and Brook Lopez (25) to snap a 12-game Thunder home winning streak. Nets point guard Deron Williams also had a good game with 19 points and he was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers while dishing out a whopping 13 assists.

Kevin Durant (27 points) and Russell Westbrook (26) led the Thunder (24-7). Westbrook also handed out 10 assists but turned the ball over six times. Serge Ibaka added 14 points and eight rebounds. Thunder center Kendrick Perkins managed just three points but hauled in 11 rebounds.

The Nets, coming off one of their worst games of the year Monday night in San Antonio, got off to a blazing start shooting 63.6 percent in the first quarter and 58.1 percent for the first half. For the Thunder it was the worst of both worlds, for three of the four quarters OKC couldn't hit very many of its own shots and couldn't stop the Nets from hitting most all of theirs.

QUOTABLE: "Deron ran the team unbelievably and scored points and created opportunities for other people. Joe was a monster and I thought Brook was great."-- Nets interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo

QUOTABLE II: "They picked us apart, they were hittin' threes, making jumpers, they were hot. We just didn't have any defense."-- Kevin Durant

QUOTABLE III: "Our defense tonight was where it was earlier in the season. We had a tough practice yesterday in San Antonio and P.J. jumped on us about a lot of things especially on offense with our ball movement and defensively helping one another and to be honest it helped. It translated to the game. We were in a spot defensively that we hadn't been in in a while."-- Joe Johnson

THE STAT: After turning the ball over just five times (tying an all-time franchise low) in Monday's win over Phoenix, Oklahoma City gave the ball away 20 times tonight and the Nets turned those extra possessions into 30 points.

TURNING POINT: After OKC clawed all the way back from a 23-point deficit to tie the game at 85 with seven minutes to play, the Nets went on a 10-1 run to extend the margin back to nine and dash the hopes of the hometown fans. The Thunder managed just eight points over the last seven minutes, while giving up 25.

QUOTABLE IV: "They took it to us on both ends of the floor. We had one good quarter but it wasn't enough to win the game. They were much better than us tonight."-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks

HOT: The Nets started the game 8-for-11 (72.7 percent)...Johnson was 5-for-6 (12 points) in the first quarter...Lopez was 4-for-5 (10 points) in the first quarter...Durant was 5-for-6 (10 points) in the first 12 minutes...Brooklyn finished the first half shooting 58.1 percent (25-for-43) overall and were even better from long range hitting 63.6 percent (7-for-11)...Brooklyn was 5-for-6 (10 points) in the paint in the fourth quarter...The Nets finished 9-for-17 (52.9 percent) on 3-pointers.

NOT: The Thunder started 4-for-11 (36.4 percent)...Kevin Martin was 1-for-5 (all 3-pointers) in the first half, he finished 3-for-10 overall.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The Oklahoma City crowd kept trying to get the Thunder back into the game for most of the first half, to no avail, but the building was rocking when the home team made its run to tie the game halfway through the fourth quarter. A few moments later, when the Nets answered with a run of their own the building began to empty.

GOOD MOVE: Oklahoma City was much more aggressive on defense late in the second and especially the third quarters getting out on shooters and deflecting passes. That was about the only stretch of good defense the Thunder played all night.

BAD MOVE: The Thunder started the game with a delay of game warning for taking too long to get out on the court for the opening tip. Most of the blame for that probably goes to OKC's mascot "Rumble The Bison" for an extended drum roll leading into the opening tip music. It's at least the third time this season the Thunder has had a delay of game warning at tipoff, all for the same reason.

NOTABLE: Durant was given two technical fouls and ejected for arguing a call from lead official Danny Crawford in the closing minutes of the game. It's the first time in his career Durant has been tossed.

QUOTABLE V: "I just told him [Crawford] I thought it was a bad call, they [officials] have quick triggers in this league now, but yes I was frustrated but I think I'm allowed to be frustrated, especially in this league with all the ups and downs."-- Kevin Durant on his first ever ejection